Searching for ultralight bosons with Josephson junction interferometry

TL;DR

This paper proposes using Josephson junction interferometry to detect ultralight bosons through phase shifts caused by long-range potentials, exploring new force interactions at small scales.

Contribution

It introduces three experimental scenarios to probe various scalar interactions and demonstrates potential sensitivity to previously unconstrained couplings.

Findings

Proposed setups can detect novel mixed couplings.

Sensitivity extends to forces at centimeter to micrometer scales.

Potential to explore new physics beyond current bounds.

Abstract

Ultralight bosons sourced by macroscopic objects can generate long-range spin-independent and spin-dependent potentials that are accessible to precision interferometry. Such potentials induce phase shifts in Josephson junctions, detectable through precision current measurements. We propose three experimental scenarios to probe photophilic scalar interactions, Lorentz-violating scalar-mediated interactions, and axion-mediated monopole-dipole interactions, depending on the nature (unpolarized or polarized) of the source. The proposed setups provide sensitivities to novel mixed couplings that are largely unconstrained by existing bounds and enables the exploration of new forces at centimeter to micrometer length scales.